Havre runners head to Missoula for state meet

The season finally comes to an end this weekend for the Havre High cross country teams as they will head to Missoula to compete in the state meet. With this being the final time the Blue Ponies will run this season, HHS head coach Erin Lynch looks forward to seeing how her runners perform.

"I'm hoping everyone comes out with times they can be proud of and we wiggle our way up into the standings on the state level," Lynch said. "This week, we've been in a taper so we've been doing about 30 percent as much as we would normally do just to make sure they're at peak for Saturday."

The Ponies will take seven runners each on the boys and girls teams to state along with an alternate for each squad. The Ponies are coming off a solid showing at the Eastern A Fall Classic in Sidney last weekend as the girls team finished third and the boys team finished fourth. So, they will be looking to build off their times at the state meet.

Caleb Tomac is the HHS boys team No. 1 runner as he has had a strong year for the Ponies. He is coming off a seventh-place finish at divisionals, where he posted a time of 16:53.5. But he will be looking to beat his personal record of 16:29.7 that he recorded at the Custer County Invitational earlier this month.

Zack May is coming off a divisional performance where he finished 21st with a personal record of 17:41.1. Right behind him was Brody Henry in 22nd place with a time of 17:41.2. His personal record came at the Scottie Invitational last month where he posted a time of 17:32.1.

Ezra Goldhahn will look to improve on his divisional performance, where he posted a personal record of 18:30.5 to take 33rd at the meet. Mason Gregoire will head to state after posting a time of 19:23.9 to take 45th at divisionals. Other Ponies that should be going to state this weekend include Dylan Kunz and Dodson Corner.

On the girls side for the Ponies, Hailey Gingery will look to end her strong season in style. She is coming off an eighth-place finish at divisionals where she posted a time of 20:24.4. But she will be looking to best her personal record of 19:55.0 that came at the Custer County Invitational.

Jayla Meldrum will look to improve on her performance at divisionals, where she finished 14th with a personal record of 20:44.4. Paige Anderson also posted a personal record at divisionals with a time of 21:53.8 to take 24th. Clara Haslem will be looking for a personal record as well this weekend, as she posted a time of 21:58.7 at divisonals.

Many other Ponies are coming off personal bests that they will look to break at state. Gracie Shandorf set a personal best of 22:01.3 to take 27th at divisionals last weekend. Hannah Kinsella set a new time of 22:32.0 and Ariel Ost posted a finish of 23:10.2 before they head into the state meet this weekend.

At the state meet, the Ponies will run against the best cross country runners in the state of Montana. Over a hundred teams will be represented at the meet with runners from Chinook, Fort Benton, Harlem, Hays-Lodgepole and Rocky Boy also competing. The Ponies will also compete against the likes of Corvallis, Columbia Falls, Miles City, Lewistown and Sidney. But there is one team in particular that Lynch believes should be the favorites.

"Hardin all around is just a force of nature when it comes to cross country these days. I'm fully expecting their girls team to win with a pretty low score," Lynch said.

The state meet will be held at the University of Montana Golf Course this Saturday. The first mile of the course will be a steady incline before a second mile that turns into a climb. Then, for the third mile, the runners will drop down and repeat the first mile of the course. While the course has its difficulties, Lynch believes the Ponies will be able to handle it.

"We've put in our training and workouts all year so these kids are ready for it," Lynch said. "They do pretty well when it comes to courses that are made up like this, so I'm excited to see how they all end their season."

Cross country is an endurance sport through the course of the season. While runners may not start the season strong, their work throughout the fall can lead to better times at the end of the year. With one last race, Lynch wants to see her runners be rewarded for their hard work.

"I hope they all feel like they accomplished something because cross country is a different sort of sport. You have to really remain focused and resolute for your entire race," Lynch said. "It's not a sport for the faint of heart so I hope they can look back on their season with some pride."

The HHS cross country teams will begin the state meet at 11 a.m. on Saturday at the UM Golf Course in Missoula.